6 Taiwanese in court over fatal crane crash

SIX workers at a Taiwan construction company have been sentenced to jail for negligence leading to a crane crash that killed three Chinese mainland tourists in Taipei earlier this year.

The six, an engineer, a team leader, a crane operator and three other workers from the crane operations team, were sentenced to between eight and 12 months in jail yesterday, all with a reprieve of two years, China News Service reported, citing Taiwan media.

The tragedy occurred on April 24 in Taipei when a construction crane fell on a bus carrying 25 tourists from Dongguan City of south China’s Guangdong Province and crushed the rear of the bus, killing three and injuring another two.

Prosecutors said the crane, which had a load capacity of 3.2 tons, was used to lift and move a 5-ton boom. Strong wind was also a factor behind the accident and it contributed to cause the crane tower to fall, the court said.